In the Pen Volume 1: #14: Overgrown

In the Pen Volume 1: #14: Overgrown

Word association is a funny thing
I hear overgrown
And my first thought is: my height
My second thought is: weeds
And my third thought is: my anxiety

In the Pen Volume 1: #13: Ash

In the Pen Volume 1: #13: Ash

A fitting end
For a life engulfed
In the flames
Of trial and tribulation

In the Pen Volume 1: #12: Dragon

In the Pen Volume 1: #12: Dragon

A monster, demon, calamity
A deity, divine, omnipotent
A legend, myth, story

This fascination
With a creature
Who never once flew
And never once breathed fire

What a wild dream
To find a fantasy in ferocity
A crazy conclusion
To find inspiration in their grandness

To dream of dragons

In the Pen Volume 1: #11: Snow

In the Pen Volume 1: #11: Snow

They say a writer
Should write what they know
Seeing as I'm from Southern California
I know nothing of snow

In the Pen Volume 1: #10: Pattern

In the Pen Volume 1: #10: Pattern

"Things get better."
Which means it must first be worse

"Move on."
Which means one must walk with scars

"Tomorrow's another day."
Which means today was a loss

"Don't forget who you are."
Which means the real me retreats when needed most

Up and down
Back and forth

A life made of the next challenge
Before the next breather
Before the next challenge

Eventually

There will come the final challenge

A permanent end to the cycle

In the Pen Volume 1: #9: Swing

In the Pen Volume 1: #9: Swing

I used to think
My greatest challenge
Was to find the courage to launch myself
At the highest height
Of the swinging swing

The true challenge
Is facing the reality
That you may have to search
Far and wide
For a place to land
On your feet
In a world set
On devouring you

In the Pen Volume 1: #8: Frail

In the Pen Volume 1: #8: Frail

An entire life discarded
By a lie regarded
As truth

A mind left shattered
When all that mattered
Was taken away

A heart left empty
By a hopeless treaty
Between death and despair

An ending made inevitable
By true pain untreatable
And its unending presence

Farewell to it all
An embracing of the fall
Another casualty of human frailty